


Not a Place to Be Shattered

by Chelle1117



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-13
Updated: 2011-08-13
Packaged: 2017-10-22 13:52:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/238738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chelle1117/pseuds/Chelle1117
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>In a short while, the city lights broke the horizon, shooting straight up into the sky.  </i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Not a Place to Be Shattered

She leaned back in the seat, her eyes closed. The almost but not quite silent hum of the 'jumper lulled her into a light doze. She liked making these trips to the mainland, liked working with Carson as he treated her friends and family, her _people_. He made the women smile with his soft words and gentle eyes. His quick and friendly smile and obvious concern for the health and well-being of the Athosians garnered trust from even the most wary.

There was a satisfied ache in her muscles and bones. Her knees ached from the heavy lifting she'd done, her arms almost shook with fatigue, but the village had a new storage building and several new homes for people to use. Her community was growing. She arched her back in the seat, and slid her eyes sideways when she heard Carson sigh.

"Carson?" she inquired. "Are you all right?"

"What? Ah. Yes, I'm fine, love. Just exhausted," he replied. His hands were careful on the controls, his eyes alert on the horizon.

"An honest day's work, though."

With the lift his eyebrows he agreed. "Aye. That it was," and she was pleased to see the smile come across his features.

She let the silence fall again.

They were over the water, now, still half an hour out from Atlantis, and the night was black around them, the stars pinpoints of light in the moonless sky. She breathed a deep sigh, and frowned at the recycled flavor of the air. After a day spent in the fresh, spring air, the sterile, stale air of the jumper grated. Convenience, she had discovered in her time on Atlantis always came with sacrifice. Sometimes it was worth the cost, others, not so much.

The flight continued in companionable silence. In the early days of their collaboration, Carson had tried to engage her in conversation. She had thought him incapable of letting a moment simply be. But his nervousness around her eventually wore off and he began to show evidence of cherishing the silence as much as she. Atlantis, even on a slow day, was the most frantic place she'd ever experienced. People in constant motion, making discoveries, building things, tearing things apart, exploring the ancient city of her ancestors—it made for a hectic lifestyle, and Carson was no exception to the activity.

That he had learned to take respite where and when he could gave her hope that the rest of the people on Atlantis could and would also find that space for silence.

In a short while, the city lights broke the horizon, shooting straight up into the sky. She smiled. The lights shining from the edge of the pier reflected, broken and flowing, on the surface of the ocean. The spires of the city were haloed with the bright white light of activity.

"It never fails to amaze me," Carson said.

She glanced over at him and returned his smile before turning again to look out the window. "It is a beautiful city."

"I know Major Sheppard and Rodney think of it as home," he said, "and sometimes I do, as well. Though nothing so permanent as Scotland. What about you?"

She gave the question the serious weight it deserved. Athos had always been her home; wondering place to place, avoiding culling by the Wraith, mourning with her friends and chosen family the loss of loved ones. She had never had a _place_ to call home, so much as a _people_ , but she realized that Atlantis was both. There was _team_ here; John, Dr. McKay, Lieutenant Ford. Elizabeth. Dr. Zelenka, even Carson. They were a people working toward common defense and a goal. And the city was... the city was home.

"I had not considered it prior to now, Carson, but yes. I would have to agree that Atlantis has become my home."

Carson considered the horizon a moment, as the city seemed to increase in size as they approached. "Sometimes, I think... ach, 'tis a silly thought I'm having."

Reaching across the space between them, she placed a hand on his arm. "I would still like to hear it."

He took a breath. "I think... sometimes it's like the city calls us. 'Come home,' it feels like she's saying." He shrugged. "Maybe it's just in my head. In fact, it very probably is just in my head and I'm being fanciful."

"Hm." She shook her head. "I do not consider it fanciful at all. I have often overheard Major Sheppard responding to the city as though it were alive. Perhaps it is an affinity associated with the ancient gene?" She smiled, "Though I do confess, after a particularly difficult and trying mission, I, too, hear the call of home."

The jumper's auto functions engaged and drew them up and over the city, the light shining into the jumper window, illuminating them both. They floated up to the top of the central spire, and they both smiled down at the brightness below them before it disappeared as they sank to a soft landing in the jumper bay.

The rear hatch opened, and Carson turned to her.

"Thank you again, Teyla, for accompanying me. Same time next month?"

Standing and stretching her aching muscles, Teyla answered, "It would be my pleasure, Carson."

  


  
  
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